Global semi sales fall 0.5% to $18 billion in June
Sales of semiconductors (three-month running average) declined slightly in June to $18.0 billion, a sequential fall of 0.5% from the $18.1 billion reported in May, according to the latest World Semiconductor Trade Statistics (WSTS). June 2005 sales were up 0.8% from the $17.8 billion reported in June 2004. For the first six months of 2005, global chip sales totaled $109.0 billion, an increase of 6.5% over the first six months of 2004, when total sales were $102.4 billion. Sales in the second quarter of 2005 came in at $53.9 billion, a sequential decline of 2.1% from the $55.1 billion reported in the first quarter.
“The nominal decline in global semiconductor sales in June was caused in part by inventory adjustments in the distribution channel and price attrition in DRAMs,” said George Scalise, president of the Semiconductor Industry Association. “In addition, a portion of the decline can be attributed to differences in when sales are recognised by chipmakers and the WSTS. Most manufacturers do not recognise sales through distribution until the distributor ships the product to a customer. For statistical purposes, the WSTS records products as sold when they are shipped to a distributor.”
Scalise said that he was “encouraged” that sales for the first half of the year were significantly up on the same period of 2004. “The strongest growth in 2004 occurred in the first half of the year. In contrast, we expect the strongest growth in 2005 will occur in the second half of the year.”
The SIA has reported that most major end markets for semiconductors – including personal computers, wireless handsets, automotive applications, and wired communications – reported unit sales substantially above expectations in the second quarter. Semiconductor manufacturing capacity utilisation also rose in the second quarter after two quarters of sequential decline, and recent reports indicate utilisation rates will continue to increase in the third quarter.
The US economy - long regarded as a bellwether of semiconductor industry fortunes - also appears strong, GDP having grown by an impressive 3.5% in the second quarter according to the latest US commerce Department figures.
